This article examines three types of initiatives that have been deployed in the effort to transform the political economies of civil conflict: voluntary ethical trading initiatives. formal regulation to promote ethical trading or good resource governance, and economic supervision schemes. The...

This article investigates the extent to which the dominance of the United States (U.S.) dollar as an international currency has been contingent on American diplomacy rather than the prosecution of expensive wars. Four wars are examined, the Korean War (1950-1953), the Vietnam War (1964-1975),...

This article investigates the extent to which the dominance of the United States (U.S.) dollar as an international currency has been contingent on American diplomacy rather than the prosecution of expensive wars. Four wars are examined, the Korean War (1950-1953), the Vietnam War (1964-1975),...

This article examines three types of initiatives that have been deployed in the effort to transform the political economies of civil conflict: voluntary ethical trading initiatives. formal regulation to promote ethical trading or good resource governance, and economic supervision schemes. The...

The explicit consideration of geography in the conflict theory literature is still relatively rare. In this article, two warlords are modeled as being located at opposing ends of a hypothetical line. The model includes variables denoting distance and difficulty of terrain. Each warlord allocates...

The article discusses, first, systems control theory, which tells us how a self-regulating system, for example of social and political peace, should work. Second, it considers the theory of imperfect markets, which tells us just why peace and security frequently fail to be obtained. Third, it...

The article compares civil strife in the public arena to labor strikes in the private arena. Both are predicated on incomplete information (both sides believing they can "win," when one – and possibly both – must "lose"). Reasons for conflict, especially in Africa, include the rent-based...

This article explores the origin and cost of conflict within the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MET), a cooperative of 26 member agencies delivering water to nearly 20 million people. Conflict within MET has existed for over 30 years, but increasing population and decreasing...

The proposition that democracies are more peaceful than autocracies has spawned a huge literature. Much of the relevant quantitative research has shown that democracies indeed rarely, if ever, fight each other, although they are not necessarily less bellicose than autocracies in general. This...

NGO's with an interest in peace and development in Africa documented the role of diamonds in conflict while soci scientists were researching and modeling the role of natural resources in long-standing violent conflicts. Journalists described what was happening on the ground. The United Nations...